Wednesday, May 02, 2007

MS and Electricity

At one time I asked my neurologist about TENS devices. She said they were not recommended for MSers, something about the electrical stimulation and the already impaired nervous system. TENS devices use a non-invasive technique to deliver electrical current in patterns determined by the needed treatment. Not so good.

However, that was years ago, and things may have changed.

I found an article in Revolution Health that explains the background and theory of using electricity for pain. Did you know the Egyptians used electric fish to treat pain in 2500 BC? This article says TENS remains controversial and better research is needed, but preliminary evidence is promising. The article continues with evidence for specific conditions and includes MS in the list of conditions with no evidence.

MSIF reported a study of TENS in MS that may lead to a change in that article. This study was designed to around spasticity, but found TENS may be useful for pain and muscle spasms in MSers.


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4 comments:

McFox said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
McFox said...

Hi Vicki :)

Please excuse the deleted post - I was trying to log in to Blogger and ended up leaving a meaningless post.

Interesting you should post about TENS, or NET (neuro-electric therapy) as it's also known - it was recently trialed for use in treating heroin addicts.

Nice blog, btw. I found it by accident. :)

Vicki said...

Thanks, McFox,

Interesting that TENS/NET is being considered for heroin addiction and MS. I wonder what else this miracle device affects.

I found your site last summer, and I wrote about it then. (vvbms.blogspot.com/search?q=mcfox)

Keep up the good work please. Maybe you'll earn another Pointless Web Award.

McFox said...

Hehe ... yes, the pointless web award - I may give myself another.

It appears the NET / TEN device has many applications. The inventor, Meg Patterson, a Scottish doctor, was clearly inspired when she developed the principle and the device.